A/N: So I guess writer's block+ my last year of high school= quite a long time between posts. Sorry guys! But here it finally is, the next chapter! This one is a little angsty, and comes with a warning: it contains drug abuse, as well as some spoilers for Distress. You've been warned!

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds.

When JJ wasn't busy talking with the victim's families, she made sure to keep an eye on Reid. She was worried about him, they all were. His snappish behaviour was completely unlike him. Of course, Reid had been through a horrible ordeal- but he had said he was fine. And he had been cleared by the Bureau psychologist to return to work. Maybe he just hated all the extra attention the team was giving him. But still, she worried.

"You worried about him, too?" Prentiss asked, moving to stand beside JJ. The two women watched Reid as he worked on the map.

"I- yeah," JJ admitted.

"I may have only been on the team for a few months, but I've never seen him act this way," Prentiss remarked.

"I haven't seen him act like this either," JJ admitted quietly. "But he's never been through something like this before. You'd expect it to have some effect on him."

"Hmm," Prentiss replied, unconvinced. "Should we talk to him about it?"

"No," JJ said instantly. "He hates that. It might make things a lot worse."

Prentiss was silent, not knowing what else to say. JJ glanced at Reid, but he was entirely focused on his work and hadn't noticed her and Prentiss.

When Hotch walked into the precinct, both JJ and Prentiss busied themselves and tried to pretend like they hadn't been watching Reid. Hotch knew, however. He would've been doing the same thing.

"We discovered a connection between the victims and the rec centre," Hotch announced.

"That's right in the middle of the comfort zone," Reid said, pointing to his map.

"So could definitely be where the UnSub is finding his victims," Prentiss said.

"That's what we thought," Hotch said. "Prentiss, I want you and Reid to go talk to the workers at the rec centre, see if they can tell us anything about the UnSub's identity."

Both JJ and Prentiss looked to Hotch, who wore his usual serious look, and then to Reid, who just looked resigned. "Ah, Hotch," said Prentiss quietly, moving in towards him so Reid couldn't hear her. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"He'll be fine," said Hotch, and Prentiss knew that that would be the end of the matter. With a fleeting look at JJ, Prentiss followed Reid out of the precinct.

"You know, Prentiss is probably right, Hotch," JJ said. "Spencer may have been cleared to return to work, and I do believe that was the right decision, but he is not right yet."

"Would you be?" said Hotch.

"Well, no," JJ admitted.

"Then we've got to trust him on this," said Hotch. JJ gave him a worried look. "I am worried about him too, JJ. Believe me. But we can't force our help on him, or we wouldn't be any help at all. He won't tell us until he's ready."

JJ nodded. "I know Hotch. I know," she said. "But you know me. I worry."

"It's who you are, JJ. You are the heart and soul of this team. You are also the closest in age to Reid, and out of everyone on this team, you are the closest to him. He won't want you to ask him directly about it. Just keep an eye on him. If there's anyone he'll talk to, it's you."

JJ was shocked at Hotch's speech. She'd never heard him say anything like that, show so much emotion when he was talking. He really cared about his team. He'd do anything if they were at stake. "Of course, Hotch. You can count on me." JJ smiled. "Now lets catch us a killer."

As soon as JJ mentioned the case at hand, Hotch's face regained the harsh mask it always wore. "Lets stop this one before he takes another woman," he said.

Reid was silent the whole car ride to the rec centre, as Prentiss drove. She wanted to talk to him, but she was afraid he would snap at her again like he had on the plane. Like she had said to JJ, even though she hadn't known Reid for very long, she had never seen him act the way he was acting now. And from everyone else's reactions, they hadn't seen Reid behave like this either.

Prentiss glanced over at Reid a few times during the car ride while they were stopped, but he either didn't realise she was looking at him or choose not to react. It was most likely the latter; he'd already ignored them a number of times that day.

When they pulled up outside the rec centre, Reid climbed out of the car and headed straight for the building, not so much as glancing at Prentiss. She hurried out of the car and almost jogged to catch up to Reid, who had already reached the door.

When the two agents entered, they immediately spotted the woman that ran the rec centre, Tasha Adams. They made a beeline straight for her, and she looked up when she heard them approach.

"Tasha Adams?" Prentiss asked.

The woman nodded. "I'm afraid I'm really busy. You'll have to come back another time." She made to walk past Prentiss and Reid, who held their badges up.

"We're Agents Prentiss and Reid, FBI," Prentiss said to the woman. "I think you can make time for us."

Tasha nodded again. "All right," she said. "But at least come over behind the desk with me. That way we can talk in private, and I can still see what's going on out here."

Tasha led Prentiss and Reid across to the other side of the room, where a long desk cordoned off a small area. "What is this about?" she asked.

"Have you heard about the three murders that have occurred in this area recently?" Prentiss asked.

"Of course I have," Tasha replied. "They were horrible… those poor people."

"We have reason to believe that the person responsible for these murders has some connection to the rec centre," said Reid.

"What?" Tasha gasped. "How can you be sure?"

"All three victims have had some connection to this place," Prentiss said. "And we've learnt enough in our line of work to know that there are no coincidences."

"Okay, but I don't know how I could help," Tasha said.

"Let me ask you this: has there been anyone here- administrators, volunteers, visitors- acting overly aggressive lately?" said Reid. When Tasha shook her head, he added, "This murderer that we're looking for either works at or visits the rec centre. In fact, he may be in this very room, right now."

Tasha was visibly upset by Reid's words, but Reid didn't seem even slightly fazed or sorry for the effect of his words. "N-no," she stammered. "I mean, we- we do get fights in here sometimes, b-but nothing t-too bad."

Reid sighed angrily. "Well, okay then." He handed Tasha his business card with his number on it. "If you can think of anything useful, give me a call." He then turned around and walked out of the room, without another word or a backwards glance.

Prentiss looked after Reid, shocked. He had never been so knowingly insensitive towards a potential witness. Sometimes, yes, he started rambling on about facts and unknowingly scared people, but that had been completely unintentional. This hadn't.

Prentiss turned back to Tasha, who was still standing there looking extremely upset. "I- I'm sorry," Prentiss said. "He's- he's been through a lot lately. And besides, nobody has actually been hurt in the rec centre. We believe the person we're looking for won't hurt anyone while he's in or too close to the rec centre." Tasha nodded, looking a little bit bigger.

"Thanks for your help," Prentiss said, placing a hand on Tasha's arm before heading out of the rec centre and after Reid.

Reid was standing just outside the door, waiting for her. "Well that was pointless," he sighed. "Tasha Adams doesn't know anything."

"No, she didn't, but did you have to talk to her like that?" said Prentiss. "You didn't have to scare her! Now she's going to be afraid to go to work!"

"She should be afraid," said Reid. "She should be on her guard; the UnSub could be someone she knows in there, and she could've caught his attention already!"

"What is the matter with you?" Prentiss exclaimed. "I have never seen you act this way. Ever!"

"Oh really, in the months that you've known me, you've never seen me act this way?" Reid replied haughtily and angrily. "No offense, Emily, but you don't really know what you're talking about, do ya?"

Reid stalked back towards the car, and Prentiss stared after him, shocked and affronted. She was hurt that Reid would talk to her in that way, but she was also shocked that he had. That morning he had been snappish, but now he was downright angry. Something was definitely wrong.

The ride back to the police precinct was spent in as complete a silence as the ride over. Reid was studying the case file again, and his face had relaxed back into its normal, thoughtful expression. Prentiss almost thought she could've imagined his anger, he looked that normal now.

When they arrived back at the precinct, Reid once again got out of the car and went inside without even looking at Prentiss. She followed after him, trying not to let her concern show on her face.

This time, JJ and Gideon were standing in the precinct, Morgan and Hotch having gone out to talk to a potential witness.

"How did it go?" Gideon asked as the two agents approached him.

"Tasha Adams didn't know anything," Reid said.

"Well let's hope that Hotch and Morgan can find out something from their witness," said Gideon, moving away to study the evidence board. Reid followed him, dropping the file in his hand on the table as he went.

JJ and Prentiss were left standing next to each other again. "I know you didn't want me to worry about Reid, but…" Prentiss began.

"You didn't talk to him about it, did you?" JJ said, worried.

"No, I didn't," Prentiss assured her. "But, well, there was an… incident at the rec centre."

JJ turned to look at Prentiss. "What happened?" she demanded.

"He really scared Tasha Adams when he was talking to her," Prentiss replied.

"He's accidentally scared witnesses before when he's talking to them," JJ pointed out.

"Not like this," Prentiss said. "Before he's just been rambling about facts, but this… he pretty much told Ms Adams that the UnSub could've been in the room with us right at that moment. And what he said to me afterwards, it sounded like he intended to scare her. He really got mad at me, too."

JJ sighed, and put a hand on her forehead. "This is bad, this is really, really bad…"

"JJ?" said Prentiss. "What's so bad?"

"The last time someone on our team was badly hurt by an UnSub, the last time they started acting weird… they shot a suspect in cold blood," JJ explained.

"You're talking about Agent Greenaway," Prentiss said. JJ nodded. "But I thought the shot was in self-defence."

"That's what Elle said it was," said JJ. "There was no proof to the contrary, but it was always suspected. And now…"

"Now you're afraid Reid is going to snap, or that he already has," Prentiss surmised.

"I'm just so scared, Prentiss," JJ whispered. "We can't lose Reid. I can't lose Reid."

The two women turned to look at Reid again. He had his phone to his ear, and from the sound of things, he was talking to Morgan about his witness.

"Maybe you should talk to him," Prentiss suggested. "Yes, I know you said he hates that," she added when JJ opened her mouth. "But you need to talk to him. We can't leave him stewing like this, or he'll only get worse."

JJ nodded. "I'll talk to him later," she promised, as Reid hung up and he and Gideon walked over to them.

"Looks like Morgan and Hotch had more luck than we did," he said. "We know where the UnSub is."

It hadn't taken long for the team to travel to the UnSub's house and for Hotch to talk him down, before he killed the young woman he'd held close to him. They were now back at the precinct, packing up the evidence board before they headed back to Quantico.

Reid, however, wasn't with the rest of the team. As soon as he'd had a chance, he'd excused himself from the rest of the team and left for the bathroom as fast as he could without running. He searched frantically through his messenger bag, until he finally dug out the vial and needle from the bottom. He really needed this; he'd been snapping at the team all day, and he knew they were getting suspicious. He knew he was going through withdrawals.

With fumbling fingers, Reid loaded up the needle, but became calm when he plunged it into his arm. He felt the drug begin to fill his system, and instantly began to feel more relaxed.

Reid wrapped up the used needle in a cloth, putting it and the bottle back in his bag. He headed back out to the team, where they had finished packing up the board and were about to head out the door.

When they were on the plane, Reid sat down opposite JJ. He didn't speak to her, but merely looked down. His expression didn't look angry or frustrated anymore. In fact, he looked… troubled. Sad.

"Spencer," JJ whispered. Reid looked up. "Are you okay?"

Reid nodded. "I'm fine," he said.

"Spence." JJ reached out and placed a hand on Reid's leg. "I know you. I know you're not okay. I know you don't want to talk about it, but sometimes you have to."

Reid sighed. "It's the crime scene photos," he said.

"Crime scene photos?"

"The photos of the victims, after the UnSub was through with them," said Reid. "When I look at them I… I have flashbacks."

"Oh, Spence…"

"For the first time ever, I know what they feel like. I look at their eyes, see their fear, and know exactly what they were thinking and feeling before they died. I was them. Sometimes I don't know how I'm going to get through." Reid looked back down when he had finished talking.

"Spencer." JJ moved her hand from Reid's leg and took his hand. "You have me to help you. I'm not going anywhere, okay?"

Reid nodded. "Okay. Don't- don't tell anyone what I told you, please?"

"I won't," JJ said.

When JJ smiled and removed her hand, Reid felt sick in his stomach. If he had thought before he didn't deserve JJ, he definitely didn't deserve her now. He absolutely hated lying to her. What would she do when she found out? Reid knew that was an inevitability; he loved her, and he knew he couldn't lie to her for very long. It hurt him too much inside. Whether she would find out on her own, or he would tell her, Reid didn't know. He only hoped and prayed that JJ wouldn't leave him when he did.

A/N: Aw, I feel so sorry for Reid! And yes, while nobody knew for certain in the show that Reid was using after being tortured by Hankel and they only suspected, JJ will find out. The questions are, though, when, how, and what will she do when she does.
As always, please review, I really love to hear what you guys think!